PEARLS AND PEARL SHELLS. 447 



coloring, or attaching; beads, etc. Their use, however, is gradually becoming less 

 general. Many varieties are made, distinguished by different native names, and a 

 series was shown in the Indian Department of the International Exhibition at Glas- 

 gow, in 1888. The prices are very moderate, ranging from an average of half a rupee 

 to a rupee for a pair. 



Fuller references may be found in " The Art Manufactures of India," by T. M. 

 Mukhauji, Calcutta, 1888, p. 265. 



SHELLWORK AND MOTHER-OF-PEARL IN FURNITURE AND JEWELRY. 



Some excellent examples of Damascus inlaid pearl work were those shown by 

 Lock wood DeForest in the Manufactures building (see PI. 23). These consisted of 

 chests, some of which dated from the early part of the century, in which diamond- 

 shaped pieces of mother-of-pearl were set in carved brown wood ; also some very fine 

 examples with floral and arabesque designs in mother-of-pearl work. They form a very 

 pleasing contrast when inlaid in the dark-brown wood used throughout the East in 

 making settees, chairs, and other objects of Oriental furniture. These are now regular 

 articles of commerce, and are quite extensively imported into the United States. 



Pearl-inlaid musical instruments are not infrequently seen. A number are exhib- 

 ited in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, in the Brown and Drexel 

 collections. Among these may be mentioned Turkish and Persian tambouras, etc., 

 inlaid with pearl in dark-brown wood, in the favorite Oriental style — the pearl pieces 

 being mainly lozenge-shaped or in simple geometrical forms. More elaborate pat- 

 terns are seen in Italian work, particularly in several mandolins of the eighteenth 

 century, in which both bowl and stem are richly inlaid in somewhat peculiar and 

 characteristic forms. 



A unique piece of American pearl- work is a mandolin exhibited at the World's 

 Fair, by the makers, Lyon & Healy of Chicago (see PI. 22), which was purchased by 

 the proprietor of the Kimball Opera Comique Company as a present for Corinne. It 

 was entirely covered with inlaid work, four kinds of pearl being employed, of different 

 shades and tints, inlaid in metal. More than 2,000 pieces of the several materials were 

 used, and 255 days' labor expended in making it, in cutting, fitting, and polishing 

 the pieces of pearl. It was valued at $1,500. 



Some years ago there was shown in New York City — probably at the old Crystal 

 Palace exhibition — a piano in which the entire keyboard was of pearl, the body of 

 the keys being of ordinary white mother-of-pearl, and the flats and sharps of green 

 abalone (Haliotis), producing an extremely rich and pleasing effect. 



One of the most remarkable examples of American pearl inlaying was a grand 

 piano made by Cottier & Company, of New York city, which is a study of the old 

 Spanish method of inlaying mother-of-pearl with tortoise shell and colored woods in 

 a hard wood. Plate 26 represents what is probably the most remarkable example of 

 inlaying of woodwork ever made in the United States. This is only one of a number 

 of pieces, all varying in design, marking, coloring and workmanship, that this leading 

 firm of woodworkers and decorators have produced from time to time. 



Another exposition piece — an electrolier designed by Mr. Louis C. Tiffany — is 

 inlaid with flowers, each petal formed by one of the natural segments of the chambers 



